EghtesadOnline: Iran's top engineering and energy enterprise MAPNA Group is ready to embark on the development of Mansouri Oilfield, a reservoir of 3.3 billion barrels of crude south of Iran, in case Indonesia's Pertamina quits the project.

Abbas Aliabadi, MAPNA's chief executive officer, made the statement in an interview with ILNA on Monday.

"MAPNA and Pertamina jointly carried out preliminary studies on the field … Although the deal is ready for implementation, the Indonesian company left the project due to the US withdrawal from the 2015 nuclear deal," Financial Tribune quoted Aliabadi as saying.

"We are ready to commence the project and if Pertamina returns, we can continue the task together," he added, noting that the proposal currently awaits the Oil Ministry's confirmation.

On May 8, US President Donald Trump announced that his country has unilaterally withdrawn from the Iran nuclear deal and the US Treasury Department plans to impose three rounds of sanctions on Iran in the coming months.

Russia's Lukoil, Indonesia's Pertamina, Tenco, a subsidiary of Khatam-al -Anbiya construction group, and MAPNA Group had signed agreements to survey Mansouri Oilfield.

Located 50 kilometers southeast of Ahvaz in the oil-rich Khuzestan Province, Mansouri became operational in the 1970s and plans call for lifting the field's output from the present 60,000 barrels per day.

Pertamina had signed a nondisclosure agreement in 2016 to conduct studies on the two oilfields. The company submitted a master development plan for the fields in March.

According to reports, the proposal envisaged a fivefold rise by producing 300,000 barrels a day.

Reportedly, Iran had given Pertamina a deadline of early May to finalize Mansouri's development deal. The Indonesian company was expected to have an 80% share in the project.

Other Bids

Aliabadi said the engineering conglomerate is trying to take on other oil projects to boost domestic players' footprint in the key industry.

"We have submitted proposals for the development of three other oilfields, namely Abteymour, Karanj and Parsi," he said.

However, the official noted, the fields' conditions are still being studied.

Lukoil and Pertamina have been involved in technical studies on Abteymour.

Pertamina's had suggested it would increase the number of oil wells in Abteymour from the current 50 to 257.

Abteymour, located near Mansouri, is estimated to hold 15 billion barrels of crude. Output stands at around 60,000 bpd, but Tehran hopes to produce 110,000 bpd from the field.

Karanj was discovered in 1963 and holds an estimated 9.6 billion barrels of in-place oil.

While a growing number of companies prepare to leave Iran in the face of looming US sanctions, Pergas International Consortium, an international oil and gas consortium has announced it will stay and continue studies on the field. Pergas plans to pump 655 million barrels of oil from Karanj over the next 10 years.

Parsi, located approximately 130 kilometers northeast of Ahvaz, holds more than 10 billion barrels of crude oil in place.

MAPNA is involved in a range of projects, including oil and gas field development, onshore and offshore drilling services, construction of downstream processing units, auxiliary facilities, utility and storage tanks, as well as the design and manufacturing of equipment such as turbo-compressors for pipelines, refineries and processing units.

The company has created over 15,000 direct and 150,000 indirect jobs in the country.